The Sound of Religion

"Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!"-1 Chronicles 16:9

The role of music and worship has dated back all the way into the medieval ages, with songs in Greek and Latin telling us "jubilate deo omnis terra" meaning "tell all the earth" [about God's glory].
Being able to worship God through music has opened many ways for people to open their hearts with the Lord.
A couple of chapels ago, I recorded the worship band, and really listened to their choices of each songs.
 The very first line in the first song was "Come and see his glory, come just as you are; come and hear his story of his heart." I don't know about you, but that makes me have chills. He's saying to come and love God, no matter where you are in life, Whether you are a small child, an elder, a college teen strung out on coffee and stress...or someone about to break down.
Then after the song, Linny, the lead singer read  Romans 8:36 and went into the song called "Set a Fire" and I looked around and saw one of my friends with his eyes closed, determination on finding that  bond with God, and then I look to my other side and see my roommate with her eyes closed, singing the words from heart, with her hand raised in the air. I honestly have never felt moved enough to ever do that, so when I see people with their arms or hand our to the air, I know they have that connection and feel moved enough by the words sung.
I love how worship has come into music, because that's how I feel like I can relate to God the closest. I remember going to Vista the first weekend of college, and they sung a song I had never heard before called "Oceans" and I was brought to tears. My eyes watered because I felt so moved. The song was based off of Matthew 14:22-34, when Jesus called out Peter to walk on water, and he started sinking because he had doubt, but Jesus held out his hand to help peter from sinking.
Part of the reason why I teared up when I heard this song was because I felt suddenly ashamed of myself.  I realized why I had never raised my hands in praise wasn't because I wasn't "moved enough", that was just an excuse I created and believed. It was because I cared about what other people would think of me. I felt like I would be judged, and that made me doubt myself and doubt my relationship with God. That is why when I heard the first words of the first song telling me to "come and see his glory just as you are" gave me chills. I realized God doesn't care if I'm a mess with my life, or if I'm struggling with my faith. He still loves. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".

I know I kind of steered away from the main topic of this post, which was to write about scriptures and find out what God's word has to say about the role of music in worship. Anyone can look up a hymn and write about that, but I feel like the real answer is in how we are able to praise God with the use of music in worship, and what effects that the music has had on us personally.